


Silent Conversations

by hyesoh



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-12-31 22:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12142548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyesoh/pseuds/hyesoh
Summary: Jongdae, a choir member, has a crush on (code name) Mr. Angel, a churchgoer.





	Silent Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LiveJournal on August 2013. Written at the request of three SuChen shippers.
> 
> Obligatory Trigger Warning: Because religion (Roman Catholicism) is part of this story, with Jongdae being a choir member and Junmyeon being a churchgoer, an extremely sensitive reader might find a couple of things blasphemous. Otherwise, (and if you don't mind a bit of blasphemy) there are no warnings whatsoever.

The highlight of Jongdae's life is the angelic-looking man who sits on one of the front pews of the church. In fact, he was the sole reason why Jongdae stayed being a choir member after all his music club friends called it quits after receiving school credits. Luhan, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo, said music club friends, thinks Jongdae is an idiot.

"Please just go and ask him out or something," Luhan groaned one Monday morning, after Jongdae had presented them with his latest observation about 'Mr. Angel.' "I am so sick of you telling us stuff like how long his eyelashes are, or how his smile lights up the universe, or--"

Jongdae frowned. "His smile _does_ light up the universe."

Luhan threw his hands up, having fulfilled his once-a-week task of trying to talk Jongdae out of telling them his adventures in stalking.

"Luhan's point is," Kyungsoo said patiently, "you should go talk to him. And if you're feeling unusually courageous, you should ask him his name. We've been referring to him as Mr. Angel ever since, Jongdae."

Jongdae couldn't decide whether or not Kyungsoo was making fun of him. The boy's voice was very sincere, and his facial expression of concern did not betray him.

"Luhan's other point is that you should stop displaying your stalker tendencies to us," Baekhyun added unhelpfully.

"I don't even know if he likes guys," Jongdae said, decidedly ignoring Baekhyun's comment in favor of answering Kyungsoo. Luhan snorted at him over his half-done math homework. “What?”

"Kyungsoo just said you should ask Mr. Angel's name," Luhan said. "And anyway, shouldn't Mr. Angel's sexual orientation be the first thing you need to find out instead of the brand of his handkerchiefs?"

"Well, how could I?" Jongdae asked in return, after mentally answering that Burberry was the brand of Mr. Angel's handkerchiefs. "He goes to church like an aspiring priest. That alone should tell me that he's straighter than a ruler. But I've also never seen him with anyone and he doesn't talk to anyone. How do you approach someone like that?"

"Approach him?" Baekhyun suggested. “Also rulers aren't perfectly straight. My borderline failing grade in Drafting is proof. What even are perspectives.”

Jongdae sighed and didn't notice Kyungsoo kicking Baekhyun's shin under the table. "I don't want to know, okay?"

"No one wants to know Baekhyun's 458th retelling of his absolute lack of skill in Drafting class," Luhan said drily.

"I think he means Mr. Angel's sexual orientation," Kyungsoo told Luhan before turning to Jongdae. "And why not?" He looked genuinely puzzled.

"Because I don't want to know if I have a chance with him or not?"

“I'm still confused,” Luhan said. He had completely given up on doing his homework based on the way he was tapping the table with his pen. "Are you a masochist?"

The answer was probably obvious, judging from how he pined over Mr. Angel. Still, it was hard to get the words out. “I don't want to be rejected.”

There was a beat of silence before Baekhyun said, "Okay. But he could be gay and still reject you, you know."

Kyungsoo beat him to pushing Baekhyun out of his seat.

\--

Jongdae unexpectedly met Mr. Angel when he accompanied Kyungsoo to a tucked away art supply shop. The first thing he did when he saw Mr. Angel standing beatifically behind the counter was to gasp, and the second was to hide himself behind a shelf containing sketchbooks. Kyungsoo looked at him oddly.

“Are you okay?” the boy asked, then reached for his forehead.

Jongdae hissed like a cat whose tail has been stepped on and pulled Kyungsoo behind the shelf with him. A girl choosing between two brands of crayons eyed them suspiciously.

“You never said you knew Mr. Angel!” Jongdae whisper-yelled as loud as he could without the other customers overhearing them.

Kyungsoo's eyes widened before he started to look around in earnest. “You mean he's here? Where?”

A strangled sound came out of Jongdae's throat. Crayon Girl made a horrified face before hastily putting back the two crayon brands on the shelf and moving to the next aisle of art products. But Jongdae didn't particularly care about how the two of them looked at the moment, because now that Kyungsoo knows Mr. Angel is here, Baekhyun and Luhan would definitely hear about it, and oh god oh god oh god.

"I was wrong," Jongdae said, as straight-faced as he could. He needed to get out of here ASAP. "It isn't Mr. Angel at all, but a very convincing look-alike--"

"It's the cashier, isn't it?"

"N-no, you're wrong."

Kyungsoo pursed his lips in the same way his mother pursed hers when he lied about doing his homework religiously. "Go talk to him."

"Nope," Jongdae said firmly. He even popped the 'p' sound for emphasis. He was going to walk out of the store, with or without Kyungsoo, and he was never going to come back to this shop ever again.

Kyungsoo just smiled at him and said, "Go talk to him or I will upload that video of you singing Celine Dion's Alone on Youtube."

"Why do you guys always--Baekhyun spiked my juice with alcohol, okay?"

But Kyungsoo only handed him a stack of sketchpads in reply, willfully ignoring his attempt to save his pride. "Here," he said. "That should allow you enough time to have a conversation with him. Remember, Jongdae: Introduce yourself first. Make small talk. Do not, at any point, ask him for his hand in marriage."

Jongdae opened his mouth to say that he didn't need sketchpads, and that he wasn't stupid enough to ask Mr. Angel to marry him right then and there, but Kyungsoo had already pushed him towards the general direction of the counter, and Mr. Angel had already saw him stumble against a corner shelf and knock a couple of 'A Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing Anime' to the ground.

"Oh my god, this is so embarrassing," he heard Kyungsoo mumble from the safety of the shelves. Jongdae resisted the urge to go back and throttle his friend. Instead, he bent down to pick up the fallen books and took care not to look at the expression on Mr. Angel's face.

In fact, Jongdae had barely looked at where he was going until the wooden counter Mr. Angel was standing behind entered his field of vision. After which he looked up, met Mr. Angel's curiously smiling face, and died a little inside. Kyungsoo's cough made him remember his mission to Talk to Mr. Angel Like A Normal Human Being Who Doesn't Have Stalker Tendencies.

“Hi,” Jongdae said. His voice sounded normal enough, but his hands felt clammy. Very clammy. Like a nervous clam on its first date. “I'm sorry, I feel like I've seen you before.” He smiled and tried to sound casual. It was so hard when it felt like the butterflies in his stomach had evolved into anacondas. “Do you perhaps go to mass at St. Christopher's Church?”

Mr. Angel had looked on politely as he spoke, but as soon as Jongdae was done talking, he gave one final smile before he turned, walked away, and exited through the back of the shop. Jongdae stood like an idiot in front of the counter with a bunch of sketchpads still on his hands, wondering what the actual fuck happened and if he should continue waiting for Mr. Angel to come back out because Mr. Angel might have gotten some pepper spray or called the cops.

Kyungsoo appeared at his side not one second later. "Did you ask him to marry you?" he asked, eyes wider than normal. "I explicitly said--"

"Of course I didn't ask him to marry me," Jongdae said. "I haven't even told him my name."

"Then he must have recognized you and thought you were stalking him," the older boy said sagely. "Not that you aren't already but–-"

Kyungsoo's sentence was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening. But instead of Mr. Angel, a guy with a youthful face wearing a university shirt came out.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," were the first words that came out of his mouth. "My younger brother asked me to take over for him for today. He said he was feeling a bit tired." Then he smiled sheepishly, and Jongdae saw the resemblance between the two.

“O-oh, um, yes,” Jongdae said a bit distractedly before he handed him the sketchpads he wasn't even planning on buying in the first place. "Thank you for taking over. I was in a bit of a hurry."

If Kyungsoo talked to him on the way to the station before they separated ways, Jongdae didn't notice. His mind was entirely focused on carrying both himself and the paper bag that held his purchase back home in one piece. He was quite sure he never felt heavier in his life.

\--

"Are you okay?"

Jongdae glanced at Baekhyun. If he looked concerned because he needed to borrow money, then he was out of luck. Jongdae had spent it on sketchpads he didn't need. "I'm fine."

"You're not eating," someone said. It might have been Luhan, but he probably had food in his mouth and was chewing while he said it.

"I'm fine," he repeated. "I just need to lose some weight."

Baekhyun side-eyed him. "It's Kyungsoo's cooking," he said, which made sense because there was no such thing as 'diets' when Kyungsoo was the cook. "And what diet? You have a ridiculously high metabolism and kites are fatter than you."

Kyungsoo looked at him worriedly. "If this is about Mr. Angel ignoring you yesterday--"

Jongdae winced and groaned before he cradled his head in his arms. "Can we please talk about something else?"

"We can talk about your reason for losing weight," Baekhyun suggested, before he paused, seemed to backtrack, and asked, "Wait, was it Sunday yesterday?"

"We had Math yesterday." Luhan said cheerfully. "So it's either Wednesday or Friday today."

"You and your ridiculous crush with Teacher Wu."

"Well excuse your 'chemistry' with Teacher Park."

"Whatever, Luhan."

Kyungsoo coughed pointedly. "Priorities, children?"

"I think Jongdae should man the fuck up and move on," Luhan said. "Remember when I had a crush on Oh Sehun? I literally sang Beyonce's Best Thing I Never Had when I got over him."

"It took you three years to get over him," Baekhyun casually reminded everyone. Luhan hissed at him. "And I suggest Jongdae go to church on Sunday, as usual."

"What's the point?" Jongdae asked, his voice muffled by his arms. "The Holy Spirit has left me."

Luhan snorted and Kyungsoo coughed to cover up what sounded like a snicker. Jongdae belatedly realized he seemed to have made a joke. A practically blasphemous one that his friends found funny. He wouldn't be surprised if his friends do turn out to be demons in disguise; but he _was_ worried about who his friends are and what that says about him as a person.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "So you can go up to him in the 'peace be with you' part and kiss him in the mouth, duh."

"Are you serious?" Jongdae asked a few moments after Kyungsoo elbowed Baekhyun, Baekhyun complained about violence, and Luhan shrugged and continued eating. "I don't have enough patience to tell whether or not you are."

"I think he was serious until the kissing Mr. Angel part," Kyungsoo said before giving Baekhyun a glare that plainly said 'shut the fuck up.' Baekhyun held up his hands in an 'I'm just trying to help' manner.

"You could try talking to him then," Luhan suggested. He was talking while chewing again. "If he ignores you, take the hint and go to the nearest convenience store, buy the largest tub of ice-cream, and watch romcoms with your mom."

\--

Jongdae went to church that Sunday, not because he thought of following Baekhyun's advice to kiss Mr. Angel on the 'peace be with you' part, or because he planned to talk to, or even look at, Mr. Angel ever again, like Luhan wanted him to. It was because he was 99.9% sure that Mr. Angel would attend mass on a different church starting that week, and he didn't want to leave the choir without so much as a notice to the elderly priest.

His plan was simple: arrive, talk to the priest, leave. In his mind, there was no one else around to see him, save perhaps an overzealous ahjummah praying for world peace, so Jongdae thought it was pretty reasonable that he nearly had a heart attack when he saw Mr. Angel standing just outside the church, approximately an hour before mass started.

Jongdae almost ran back to the bus stop. He also almost hid behind the nearest bushes. But the nearest were rosebushes, and yeah, no thanks.

He told himself that he really shouldn't panic, and that Mr. Angel was just another human being. Another human being who would probably just ignore him anyway. Because he was waiting for someone. And Mr. Angel waiting for someone was perfectly normal.

Except Jongdae knows it isn't. So what the actual fuck.

He pursed his lips. He knew it was none of his business, and to have a pity party in front of the founder of said pity party was...well, pitiful. Time also wasn't waiting for him to get his shit together, and there was no other route to the priest's office except through the church, so he started to walk forward resolutely, back straight and chin held up high, even if his gaze fell on the ground.

"You're early."

Yixing's voice nearly had him jumping three feet off the ground and into the loving arms of the nearby rosebushes, had it not been for Earth's gravity. He quickly thanked all the saints and Isaac Newton for Earth's gravity.

"So are you," Jongdae managed to reply in a conversational tone, even though his heart was still in the process of screaming expletives at the boy. The only other ninja he knew was his neighbor Daehyun, who claimed he was a legit ninja through his mother's side, but was noisy as hell anyway, so he doesn't count.

Yixing grinned and adjusted the strap of the guitar case on his shoulder. "Yeah, but I'm here to practice, not to be lovey-dovey with my boyfriend."

Jongdae was absolutely sure that he was here because he was quitting choir, and that the priest wasn't his boyfriend. "Huh?"

Yixing shook his head, but he was smiling as he nodded towards the direction where Mr. Angel was standing. "You should go to him. He might think we're being too friendly."

Jongdae was often said to resemble a cat, but at the moment he looked like a goldfish dying on dry land. "What? No! We're not--I don't--He isn't--" But Yixing's smile only got wider, so Jongdae took a deep breath, exhaled, and said very clearly and very seriously, "Me and him, we're not together."

Yixing looked confused. "What do you mean? Did you guys break up?"

Jongdae wanted to wail. "We weren't together. Ever." _'I don't even know his name.'_ he wanted to add, but didn't. He refused to give Yixing an invitation to his pity party.

"Really?" Yixing looked unconvinced. "I always thought you were."

Jongdae gaped at him. What does that mean? Why did Yixing think they were together? Did Jongdae stare too much at Mr. Angel for the usually out-of-it Yixing to notice? Did Mr. Angel look at him too? Is the universe having fun fucking with him?

"Anyway," Yixing said good-naturedly before patting his shoulder. "I'll go ahead. See you later." Jongdae barely caught Yixing mumble, "I hope," to himself, but he did catch it, and he was about to ask Yixing what he meant when he turned around to see that the boy wasn't there. In fact, Yixing had already passed Mr. Angel and was halfway down the aisle, heading for the raised platform near the altar, which was the designated place for the choir. Now that was some ninjutsu.

Priorities, Jongdae.

His eyes slid towards Mr. Angel, who was still standing on the same spot. _'Still waiting for someone,'_  he thought, a bit bitterly, though he knew he had no right. He sighed in resignation. What the fuck was he doing? Arrive, quit, leave, remember?

So he resumed walking. Yixing might be devastated when Jongdae tells him he was only here today to quit choir (because who would sing the high notes?), but quitting was the first step towards getting over Mr. Angel, and the second step was buying a gallon of ice-cream. (He also doesn't want to be like Luhan who spent three years being miserable, watching romcoms with his mom, and singing Beyonce songs.)

Three meters before passing by Mr. Angel, Jongdae glanced at the boy to see if he was looking at him, but he wasn't. In fact, Mr. Angel doesn't seem to acknowledge Jongdae's existence at all. If anything, he looked slightly troubled and a bit uncomfortable. Maybe that was the message.

Unbidden, Adele's 'Someone Like You' started playing in his head. Jongdae suddenly had the urge to punch Luhan, the guy who broke Adele's heart, and Oh Sehun.

There was someone tugging on his sleeve.

Acting on instinct, (and because he was thinking violent thoughts) Jongdae recoiled. But when he turned to see who it was, he saw Mr. Angel, with his hand outstretched towards him, eyes shocked and probably a bit hurt.

There was definitely something wrong with the equation here.

"Um," Jongdae said intelligently.

Mr. Angel pulled his hand back before turning his gaze away.

Silence. Except for Yixing playing Amazing Grace in the background.

Jongdae sighed when he realized that Mr. Angel looked like he had already decided he wasn't going to be the one who would start the conversation. "Look, I...if this is about the other day, don't worry. I get it. I won't talk to you anymore." He tried to smile. It was painful.

That seemed to wake Mr. Angel up, because he started to shake his head vigorously. Then he pointed to himself, made talking motions with his hand, then shook his head again. He was still not looking at Jongdae, but Jongdae could see that the boy was panicking.

And oh.

Oh.

"I'm..." Jongdae didn't know what to say. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

Mr. Angel hesitantly reached for Jongdae's hand before he began writing on his palm with his forefinger.

**'I'm sorry about the other day.'**

"Um, no, I should be–-" Jongdae started to say, but Mr. Angel was writing again, his pace this time much faster, and Jongdae struggled to keep up.

 **'I thought you found out through your friend that I'** He stopped.

"That you?" Jongdae prompted. He was pretty sure his heart was trying to escape his rib-cage and that Mr. Angel, who was still holding his hand, could feel his racing pulse. He strangely didn't mind at all.

But Mr. Angel didn't continue with his sentence and started anew. This time, he was writing more slowly. **'I used to go to church praying for God to cure me. I used to visit many churches, hoping for a miracle to happen to me.'**

Jongdae's eyes flicked towards Mr. Angel's face, but there was no trace of resentment in his features, only calmness.

 **'One day, I came to this church and heard you sing. You had such a wonderful voice that it lifted my spirits. It was the first time in a long time that I felt really happy. Perhaps being able to talk wasn't the miracle I was praying for. Perhaps I only wanted to be happy.'** He smiled shyly at Jongdae before continuing. **'You make me happy.'**

Well if that wasn't a confession, Jongdae doesn't know what is.

 **'Are you and the guitar guy together?'** came the hesitant question. Hesitant because Mr. Angel held his hand slightly tighter, and when he wrote, it seemed like the question was being physically wrenched from him. His cheeks were also tinged with red.

And there goes another confession.

"No, we're not," Jongdae answered softly, before he gulped and dared to intertwine their fingers. Mr. Angel looked up at him from beneath his eyelashes with equal parts doubt and hope. Jongdae leaned in to press his forehead to the boy's. "But he thinks you and I are."

The small, shy smile that bloomed on Mr. Angel's face, and him leaning in to place a chaste kiss on Jongdae's lips were his rewards, along with a forefinger ghosting characters on his palm, writing out, **'My name is Kim Junmyeon.'**

–-

 **BossSoo12:** Guys.  
**DeerHan77:** wat  
**ByunBacon4:** uep?  
**ByunBacon4:** yep?*  
**BossSoo12:** I have good news and bad news.  
**DeerHan77:** oops wait brb getting snacks  
**BossSoo12:** Which one first?  
**ByunBacon4:** bad, so that the good can bring the happy feels back.  
**BossSoo12:** Happy feels, he said.  
**ByunBacon4:** leave me alone.  >:(  
**BossSoo12:** Anyway.  
**BossSoo12:** Teacher Wu is seeing Teacher Park.  
**ByunBacon4:** what, you mean like an apparition? o-o)  
**BossSoo12:** No, I mean like they're dating.  
**ByunBacon4:** DAFUQ  
**BossSoo12:** Are you an idiot.  
**ByunBacon4:** R U SRS  
**BossSoo12:** Unfortunately.  
**DeerHan77:** lol back why is baek freaking out :)))  
**DeerHan77:** OMG WHATTTT  
**ByunBacon4:** who's freaking out now, huh?  
**DeerHan77:** O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O)  
**ByunBacon4:** lol you look like kyungsoo. :))  
**BossSoo12:** I'm right here.  
**DeerHan77:** but that's like two towers getting it on what even  
**BossSoo12:** Of course you'd immediately think of that. Of course.  
**ByunBacon4:** luhan, we should totally hook up.  
**DeerHan77:** what why are you high  
**DeerHan77:** @DKS - is he high  
**BossSoo12:** Don't ask me. I don't sell him drugs.  
**ByunBacon4:** our crushes are dating.  
**BossSoo12:** Ah, such logic.  
**DeerHan77:** @BBH - you're higher than your grade in music  
**DeerHan77:** and no sorry i'd rather date what's his name and face  
**ByunBacon4:** DDDDDDDDD8 MY HEART YOU DEMON  
**BossSoo12:** @BBH - There, there. @LH - Ooh, who?  
**DeerHan77:** sexy dance club person  
**BossSoo12:** Kim Jongin?  
**BossSoo12:** Because we will be enemies.  
**DeerHan77:** nope  
**DeerHan77:** chinese like me  
**BossSoo12:** Okay, good. I call dibs on that one.  
**ByunBacon4:** dibs, he said.  
**BossSoo12:** Shut up, Baek.  
**ByunBacon4:** @LH - huang zitao?  
**DeerHan77:** noooo  
**BossSoo12:** @BBH - You recover from heartache pretty fast.  
**DeerHan77:** also zitao isn't a dance club member  
**ByunBacon4:** @DKS - lol thanks  
**BossSoo12:** @LH - Are you making people up just to reject Baek or?  
**DeerHan77:** no goddammit i forgot his name because he forgets it sometimes as well  
**BossSoo12:** Oh, you mean Zhang Yixing? Who is also the guitar guy from choir?  
**DeerHan77:** that's the one  
**BossSoo12:** Another bad news for you, then.  
**ByunBacon4:** uh-oh  
**DeerHan77:** does he hate manchester united because yeah that's a dealbreaker  
**BossSoo12:** He's dating Oh Sehun.  
**DeerHan77:** WHAT  
**ByunBacon4:** kkkk omg legit laughing rn  
**DeerHan77:** GODDAMMIT OH SEHUN  
**BossSoo12:** There, there.  
**ByunBacon4:** so?  
**DeerHan77:** so what  
**ByunBacon4:** one date? i will totally support manchester united for you.  
**BossSoo12:**  ...I'm gonna log-out.  
**DeerHan77:** @DKS - no wait don't you haven't told us the good news yet  
**DeerHan77:** @BBH - sold  
**ByunBacon4:** TY ILU XOXO  <333  
**BossSoo12:** Jongdae is dating Mr. Angel (Kim Junmyeon) as of this morning.  
**DeerHan77:** how do you know this  
**ByunBacon4:** lol they have the same last name. what is already married.  
**BossSoo12:** I'm actually Gossip Girl.  
**ByunBacon4:** ???  
**DeerHan77:** who  
**BossSoo12:** Never mind.  
**BossSoo12:** And Yixing told me.  
**BossSoo12:** It's also how I know about him and Sehun dating.  
**ByunBacon4:** how is jongdae and mr. angel dating good news?  
**DeerHan77:** i don't want to but i have to agree  
**ByunBacon4:** oops sorry it's supposed to be junmyeon* now.  
**BossSoo12:** Well, it means we won't have to listen to Jongdae pining anymore.  
**DeerHan77:** you're right that is good news  
**ByunBacon4:**  i thought it's good news because jongdae finally destressed  
**ByunBacon4:** if you know what i mean ;)  
**BossSoo12:** Um, Jongdae and Junmyeon got together in church.  
**BossSoo12:** Like, an hour before first mass.  
**DeerHan77:** um ok but why was jongdae an hour early  
**DeerHan77:** i thought he was gonna die from diabetes via ice-cream overload  
**BossSoo12:**  IDK  
**ByunBacon4:** holy shit  
**BossSoo12:** What?  
**DeerHan77:** wat  
**ByunBacon4:** do you think jongdae smexed junmyeon in church? unf. get it KJD.  
**DeerHan77:** dayum  
**BossSoo12:** STOP  
**DeerHan77:** daaaaaaayyyyuuummmm  
**BossSoo12:** STOOOOOOOPPPP  
**DeerHan77:**  fine  
**DeerHan77:** hey baek if you're serious about dating there's a game on saturday you wanna come  
**ByunBacon4:**  only if i get to  
**BossSoo12:** OKAY NOPE THAT'S MY CUE TO LOG OUT  
_BossSoo12 has logged out._

–-

Jongdae likes their conversations. Their dialogues mostly consist of pens against paper, or fingertips against palms, but Jongdae likes it. He likes the way Junmyeon's writing speed would depend on how he was feeling; He tended to write fast when he's excited, hesitant when he's nervous or afraid, and slow when he's serious--when he wants to write down the right words to convey his thoughts or feelings.

Jongdae keeps all the notebooks they've written their conversations on and meticulously labels them with two dates: one to indicate the date they started writing on the first page, and the other to indicate the date when the last page was filled. He keeps them all in the bookshelf on his bedroom, between the novels Junmyeon recommended to him and his school books. When he has time, he re-reads them and traces over the letters that Junmyeon wrote with a fond smile.

–-

Junmyeon likes their conversations. He likes how Jongdae knew the balance between talking with his voice and talking with his hands, and how he made an effort to learn how to speak in sign language before knowing that Junmyeon preferred to write on his palm or in a notebook. He likes how Jongdae sings to him when he's upset, and even when he's not upset. He likes how Jongdae volunteers to help run the art shop with him when his older brother, Minseok, has classes in the university.

He likes Jongdae's friends (which Jongdae doesn't understand), his infectious laugh, the way he looks like a cat when he smiles, and his occasional bouts of mischief. He even likes Jongdae's drunk renditions of Celine Dion songs which Kyungsoo showed him in secret. In fact, he likes Jongdae a whole lot that it sometimes scare him, but Jongdae says it's okay, because he likes him a lot too.


End file.
